Papai's Garden

06/12/2026

🌱 Community is what makes Papai’s Garden grow.

Today we were joined by an incredible group of volunteers who rolled up their sleeves, tackled garden projects, got creative with nature-inspired crafts, and helped us finish garden cages and get ready for our event coming up.

A special thank you to Fernando .on.fog for not only volunteering today, but for sharing his passion for our mission and his desire to return regularly. People like Fernando remind us that inclusion, community, and belonging are built one relationship at a time.

We are so grateful for every person who chooses to spend their time helping our garden flourish. 💚

Thank you to and for supporting community connections and volunteerism.

Every helping hand helps our garden and our mission grow. 🌿

06/10/2026

🌱 Garden World Training Program Recap – June 9, 2026 🌱

This week’s session focused on identifying and removing the 3 D’s of plant maintenance: Dead, Diseased, and Damaged plant material.

Participants practiced observation, plant grooming, and retail plant care while building confidence and workplace readiness skills. Activities included:

🌿 Plant inspection and identification
✂️ Pruning and grooming plants
🪴 Maintaining retail displays
🤝 Teamwork and communication

Through hands-on experiences like these, participants develop confidence, independence, attention to detail, and transferable workplace skills in a supportive environment.

At Papai’s Garden, we create opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to build workplace skills through hands-on horticulture experiences. Our partnership with provides meaningful exposure to real-world work environments and job readiness skills.

💚 A special thank you to for partnering with Papai’s Garden in supporting inclusive workforce development and providing meaningful hands-on learning experiences for our participants.

GardenWorld JobReadiness CommunityInclusion PlantCare GrowingConfidence

06/06/2026

The past few days have been all about protecting our crops from some very determined garden visitors.

After losing seedlings to rabbits, raccoons and other critters, we spent the day building custom hardware cloth enclosures for our raised beds. It took measuring, bending PVC hoops, cutting hardware cloth, plenty of zip ties, and a whole lot of teamwork.

A huge thank you to our family volunteers who jumped in to help make it happen. From planning and construction to planting and problem-solving, every helping hand makes a difference.

These beds are now home to bok choy, kale, peppers, strawberries, cucumbers, herbs, and other crops that will be used for hands-on gardening education and job training opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Sometimes growing food means learning how to outsmart the wildlife too. 🐰🦝🌱😆

06/03/2026

🌱 Gardeners, we need your guidance!

We’re exploring options for building protective covers for our raised garden beds and would love to learn from others who have done this before.

Have you built a raised bed cover using PVC hoops, crop cages, deer netting, hardware cloth, or another approach?

If so, we’d appreciate:
✅ Photos of your setup
✅ Tips or lessons learned
✅ Material recommendations
✅ Links to plans or tutorials

And if you know someone with experience building garden bed covers, we’d be grateful for an introduction!

Please share in the comments or send us a DM. Thank you for helping us learn and grow! 💚

05/30/2026

🌱 You’re Invited! 🌱

Join us as we celebrate one year of inclusive gardening in Queens with a free community event at Papai’s Garden!

Bring the whole family and enjoy:

🌿 Garden Harvest activities
🥗 Garden-to-Table tasting experiences
🌸 Botanical crafts using pressed flowers
👩‍🏫 Special guest educator Christina Delfico of
🍋 Light refreshments will be served

You’ll also have the opportunity to meet the gardeners behind Papai’s Garden and learn how our program creates meaningful work-based learning opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

📅 Monday, June 29, 2026
⏰ 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
📍 Pembroke Community Garden
253-13 Pembroke Ave, Little Neck, NY

☔ Rain Date: Tuesday, June 30

🎟️ RSVP today:
✔️ Scan the QR code in this post
✔️ Visit the link in our bio
✔️ DM us and we’ll send you the RSVP link directly

Swipe through to learn more about the activities, meet our gardeners, and get to know our guest educator, Christina Delfico of iDig2Learn.

We can’t wait to celebrate with you! 💚

05/30/2026

🌱 Our participants returned to Garden World this month to continue building workplace and horticultural skills through hands-on training.

This session focused on attention to detail, teamwork, and quality control as participants carefully inspected flowering plants, removed damaged blooms, and prepared displays for customers. With each visit, they are gaining confidence, developing job-ready skills, and taking meaningful steps toward future employment opportunities.

We’re proud of their hard work and growth. 💚

05/30/2026

🌱 Meet Our Garden Educator, Lawrenberg Hanson! 🌱

We’re excited to welcome Lawrenberg to the Papai’s Garden team.

Lawrenberg brings experience in urban agriculture, environmental education, and inclusive gardening. She has taught garden ecology, nutrition, and hands-on growing practices in New York City schools and is passionate about making gardening accessible to all learners.

At Papai’s Garden, Lawrenberg will help participants build gardening skills through seed starting, planting, harvesting, and garden maintenance while developing the confidence, responsibility, teamwork, and workplace readiness skills that support meaningful employment.

Please join us in welcoming Lawrenberg to our growing community! 🌻

05/29/2026

05/05/2026

The next generation of gardeners is already getting their hands dirty 🌿💧
Our youngest helpers are filling our irrigation pots, including the small Oyas in our grow bags. Absolute game changer for keeping plants happy and hydrated.

01/04/2026

📣 We’re hiring!
Join Papai’s Garden as our next Garden Educator / Manager — and help us grow something meaningful 🌿

We’re looking for a knowledgeable and compassionate garden leader to train and mentor 3–4 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in urban gardening skills. You’ll oversee three raised beds, implement seasonal planting plans, and guide participants in hands-on tasks like watering, pruning, weeding, and harvesting.

🧑🏽‍🌾 Who we’re looking for:
✅ Strong gardening experience
✅ REQUIRED: Experience working with individuals with disabilities
✅ Reliable transportation (Queens-based)

💵 Pay: $95/hour
🗓️ Part-time: April–September
📍 Location: Little Neck, Queens
🕒 ~3 days/week, 2 hours/day (~100 total hours)
🗓 Apply by: February 29

📩 To apply, email [email protected] or text 646-919-5706
🌐 Learn more: papaisgarden.org

Let’s grow together.